


Climbing Trees and Catching Kisses

by JeniferSaturn (tokutske)



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Awesome Trio (Hetalia), Established Relationship, Forehead Kisses, Gentle Kissing, Kissing, M/M, Married Couple, Tree Climbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27559498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokutske/pseuds/JeniferSaturn
Summary: The first thing he notices when he arrives back home is his beautiful husband seated, eating his breakfast, holding his fork lazily. Shaking his head, Alfred walks towards him, draping himself around his shoulders and pressing sloppy kisses across his temple, then downwards against his jaw and only stops when Matthias finally gulps down the food in his mouth and turns his head slightly to the right to rob himself a kiss from Alfred’s lips, at which Alfred quickly dodges out of the way, leaving a pouting, half-awake Matthias behind.
Relationships: America/Denmark (Hetalia)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Climbing Trees and Catching Kisses

The day starts just fine. Alfred is still feeling a bit tired from staying up late till 2 am doing some, unfortunately, necessary paperwork, but a quick cup of coffee quickly solves that. The sweetness of the morning always makes him smile, happy at the calmness of the world that only seems to exist in extremely specific moments of his life. Cooking is easier in the mornings, since there’s no elaborate food to prepare and a simple dish of eggs and bacon is enough to satisfy him and his husband.

Once he is finished, he leaves both their breakfasts on the dining table. Grabbing some seeds for the bird feeders outside he puts on his boots and walks out of the house. The birds are chirping, and there’s already some waiting around the trees to be fed, and Alfred has to roll his eyes because it was supposed to be Matthias’ turn. But Alfred is a good husband and he understands Matthias is way more tired than usual, and thus in rare Alfred fashion, he lets him oversleep. As soon as the bird feeders are filled, he starts walking back home, hearing the melodic music coming from the birds as their wings flutter in hopes of reaching the bird feeders first to get good spots for eating.

The first thing he notices when he arrives back home is his beautiful husband seated, eating his breakfast, holding his fork lazily. Shaking his head, Alfred walks towards him, draping himself around his shoulders and pressing sloppy kisses across his temple, then downwards against his jaw and only stops when Matthias finally gulps down the food in his mouth and turns his head slightly to the right to rob himself a kiss from Alfred’s lips, at which Alfred quickly dodges out of the way, leaving a pouting, half-awake Matthias behind.

“You can’t just kiss me like that and then go away, Al,” his husband whines, dropping his fork on the plate.

“I can totally do that, come kiss me when you’re at least properly awake,” he answers back, taking a seat at the table.

“You’re so rude to me sometimes.” Matthias huffs, making ridiculous gestures while obviously trying not to smile.

“Oh, you love me. By the way, today was your turn to feed the birds,” Alfred mentions casually, taking note of the fact that Matthias seems more perked up now, as he takes another bite.

“Oh,” the spiky blond says deflating for a moment, before hastily adding ”I’m so sorry! I completely forgot, but I swear I will just do it right now and...”

“No, no. I was kidding dude. I know how tired you are, so don’t push yourself, babe,” he interrupts softly. “I already fed the birdies, you just rest, man, you need it.”

“Aw, thanks Al.” and the look Matthias gives him is filled with so much love that he doesn’t regret letting him sleep all day long.

“Oh trust me it was no problem, but I think we’re gonna need more bird feeders,” he says after standing up to go to the kitchen. “There seems to be way more birds than usual, and if they’re gonna stick around we can’t let them go hungry.”

Picking up his and Alfred’s plates Matthias winks at him while loosely gesturing to the landline phone, “Then go ahead and call Gilbert, I’m sure as hell that he can get us some new ones before this week’s over.”

“Of course he can, Gil knows his birds pretty well. I think he mentioned his cousin makes them or something?” Alfred answers, taking the now drained glasses of juice with him, putting them in the sink. He goes on to wash them when Matthias stops him, gently holding his wrist.

“Let me do that for you, hm?” he murmurs, plates abandoned in the sink, hand twisting till their fingers are intertwined. 

Alfred hums, turning to face him and putting his other hand on the other man’s cheek. He smiles, “Well, how can I say no to such a kind offer?” He caresses his cheek and then leans in.

Despite the leftover taste of bacon and eggs, somehow his husband always manages to keep his lips, his mouth, soft and sweet, and oh so delicious. Matthias deepens the kiss slightly, and just when Alfred feels as though he is running out of breath he breaks the kiss and leans back and just looks at him.

These are the moments, Alfred thinks, in which he feels he made the best choice. In which he feels he is whole, complete, and that his life can’t turn any better. Because in front of him, staring intently into his eyes, is his world, his universe. This man, the one that looks at him, and goes ‘hey, that’s my dumbass’, the one that smiles at him lovingly, that tolerates his ramblings about things he knows nothing about, who grew up in a remote village in Denmark and then went to the United States for the chance to study in a good university and looked at Alfred and somehow thought, ‘Oh, I like him.’ It’s something he still can’t believe, he seriously doesn’t know how he managed to get someone as beautiful, and amazing, and gorgeous, and _kind_ , as Matthias to like him, to be even remotely interested in him, when he is so fucking dumb.

“Hey,” Alfred blinks, noticing Mathias is talking to him.

“Oh, hey,” he answers, breathless.

“You seem to be thinking hard up there,” his moon and stars says. “It’s quite surprising, to say the least.”

Alfred takes a moment to process it, but soon his face breaks into a smile. Laughing, he shoves him away, pushing his shoulder softly. “What an ass, and I thought you loved me,” he sighs, faking disappointment. “Seems I was mistaken, even after all this time.”

Mathias grins, giving his hand a tight squeeze before releasing it, finally turning to face the sink to get started with his task.

“I know you’re tired, but maybe we could go for a walk through the woods a bit later,” he suggests, leaning on the counter. “Only if you’re up to it, of course.”

Alfred loves to see Matthias’ eyes light up, and finds it incredibly cute how he begins to wash the dishes with rekindled joy, an eager smile stretched on his face.

It takes some time, what with gathering their ‘in case we get lost in the woods’ kit, and they waste around half an hour. Not long after that however, they fall into an easy rhythm as they walk through the forest, Matthias holding a map in his hands. It’s summer, and everything is quite hot but the woods always have a chilly quality to them regardless of the season, which heavily influenced their decision to move here. Matthias is humming familiar tunes, changing them constantly as if his brain didn’t know which song to choose. Alfred begins to wonder what would have happened had they not met, but he is interrupted by a sudden warmth in his hand which has him quickly glancing down.

“You seem to be getting lost a lot today,” Matthias tells him, looking a bit sheepish. “Thought I’d help you stay focused!”

“Oh, sorry,” Alfred says as he meets his eyes, and he does feel a bit guilty, as he is the one that proposed walking around to spend time together. 

Flashing a thousand watt smile his husband only answers with a quick, “No need to be sorry!” before tugging him towards what looks like a strong, sturdy, and very tall tree. “How about a bonding activity?”

“A bonding activity? Involving a tree?” Nobody can really fault him for sounding so skeptical. For all he knows, Matthias might be thinking about fucking the tree or something like that. It wouldn’t surprise him at this point. 

“Yep! I wanna climb it!”

Blinking, Alfred lifts his eyes. The tree is _tall_ , as in _very_ fucking _tall_ , and the fall would hurt. A lot. And break their bones too. It would crack their heads open. Nobody would be able to find their bodies. Okay, maybe Gilbert. But no one else.

Alfred smirks.

“How ‘bout a race? First one to get to that branch,” he says, pointing at a branch just below the point he considers of no return, “wins.”

The spark of competitiveness seems to spread easily to Matthias, because he immediately grins, and ignoring the blatant bags under his eyes, he tugs Alfred closer to the tree. He makes sure he has his phone with him, in case they get stuck or something bad actually happens. Not knowing whether his neighbor is home or not worries him a little bit, because normally it’s Gilbert that's the one that gets them out of these situations, but seeing Matthias so happy melts his worries away.

“Sounds good to me,” Matthias releases him from his hold, which honestly disappoints Alfred a little. “Who counts?”

“I’ll do it! You always cheat when you do it,” Alfred enjoys how his husband’s smile widens (and he still can’t believe he is calling Matthias his husband, how cool is that?) even as he rolls his eyes.

“Not cheating, you’re just slow as fuck Al,” Matthias teases, looking so smug and full of himself that Alfred swears in his head that he is going to be the winner of this contest.

He gives Matthias the middle finger. Pacing around the trunk, he carefully checks how strong the lower branches are, which is to say that he looks intently at them before deeming them thick enough to hold on to while they’re climbing. Alfred is not a tree expert by any means, and he had to buy a bunch of books to be able to recognize different types of flowers, trees, mushrooms and even animals after they decided to move to the woods cause he didn’t want to get killed by something. This is not to say he didn’t like it, because he did. Once, he used to think he was going to be a marine biologist when he grew up, what with his obsession with the sea. So he could recognize things at a glance now, but his knowledge continued to be extremely limited.

“Ya think it’s sturdy enough?” he asks Matthias, who knows way more about this kind of thing.

“Mh? Oh, yeah. I think it’s just perfect,” he sounds kinda distracted, which makes Alfred wonder if this is a good idea at all. Then again, they’re not known for having good ideas. Ever.

“Then how about we start?” grinning, Alfred gives Matthias a tiny peck on the lips as they get into position, “Good luck, considering who your opponent is, you’re gonna need it.”

“And people say I’m full of myself. I mean, have they even met you?” the man in question shoots back.

“Oh, shush. You ready?” he receives a nod. “Okay, well. On the count of three.” he can feel his hands start to sweat. “Three, two… one!”

Both of them break into a sprint towards the tree. Alfred is the first one to reach it, years of sports and running tracks paying off as he starts to climb; however, Matthias is close second, years of living in a farm, using an axe and lifting heavy things helping him get closer to where Alfred is, _fast_ . He glances down for a second, only to see Matthias approaching, and makes sure to find the fastest but safest path he can. Less than four seconds after, his husband gets just to where he is and manages to maneuver over Alfred and gains the first spot for the first time in the race and Alfred actually glowers at him because how _dare_ he be better at climbing than him. It takes no time for him to get tired though, and by the time they’re reaching the branch the only thing carrying him through the race is pure adrenaline and a fear of falling from the tree itself.

“Tired?” Matthias asks him, settling on the branch that had been the original goal, while he helps him get seated besides him. “Want some water?”

“Yes, please dude,” Alfred manages to answer through pants. “How are you not feeling as though a train ran you over, then a dog ate your remains and vomited them in a dumpster?”

“That’s scarily specific, but if you must know, Berwald and I used to climb trees when we were children when he visited. It was a good way to keep us occupied while the adults were talking,” says Matthias as he gives him a water bottle. “Thankfully Berwald was, and is, a quiet person and not one of those typical annoying little cousins.”

A chuckle leaves those lips, those delicious lips he loves so much, and his husband must notice because Alfred finds himself moving his mouth before he even knows what’s happening. This one isn’t as short and sweet as the ones they shared earlier, but it isn’t passionate or anything like that. More of a deep kiss with a spoon of pure love. The kind of kiss he will never get tired of sharing with him. He curses the fact that breathing exists, because even if it’s only for a moment, those sweet lips leave his.

“It seems I won,” Matthias numbles before kissing him again.

‘Yes’, he thinks, ‘you definitely won, and I’d let you win a hundred more times if this was the end result.’

“I love you,” he murmurs between kisses, “I love,” kiss “you so much.”

Matthias repeats the words, and between kisses, on one of the top branches of this tall tree, Alfred feels so blissfully happy, like everything in the universe is going to be okay and he won’t have to worry about anything for the years to come. He is just fine with being left with no air inside his lungs, with the way he feels so dizzy after five, eight minutes of getting lost in their own little world, and there’s nothing he would love more than staying here forever, just the two of them.

Alfred pulls back, drained but happy, and leans against the trunk as comfortably as he can while sitting on the branch. “You’re just as beautiful as the first day I saw you,” he can’t help but say. “So handsome, so kind, so pretty. Even back then I always thought you were such an amazing person.”

“That’s what I should be saying,” Matthias laughs “Never thought I’d meet someone as wonderful as you, and yet here you are.”

“Remember when we started dating? Gilbert was so relieved, he thought we were going to be pining forever!”

“No kidding, I don’t think it’s normal for roommates to leave you notes telling you to use protection around the apartment.”

Alfred snorts, “He was all like, ‘fuck already’!” 

They share a laugh. 

“When I asked Lukas if he knew I liked you he said that ‘dumbasses attract each other’, and I looked at Berwald, ready to be defended, only for him to turn his head and nod,” always the dramatic, Matthias brushes his hair back with his fingers, huffing loudly. “A betrayal to be sure, but an expected one.”

That does it for Alfred, who starts to wheeze and shake with laughter and mirth, and his husband immediately follows him. They sit there for about twenty minutes, holding hands and sharing kisses here and there, some short, some long, with some touches here and there, and a few brushes that make them flustered. It’s not until the sun starts glaring at them, burning hotter, that they decide it’s time for them to leave. Except they can’t.

“Uh, we have a tiny problem.” says Alfred as he glances down.

“What do you mean a ‘tiny problem’?”

“It seems… we didn’t pack the piece of rope we need to, uh, get down safely,” both of them blink, looking at each other, the romantic atmosphere shattered. “Should I, uh, should I call Gilbert?”

“Is he even at home right now? Don’t we have at least a short rope?” Matthias whispers anxiously, looking a bit scared. “Are we going to get trapped here?”

“Pfft, no. We ain’t gonna get trapped here, watcha talking about?” he responds, feeling a little bit awkward, and judging by his husband’s reaction, incredibly forced. “Just, just let me call Gil, we’re gonna be fine. Promise.”

Matthias nods, still looking a bit unsettled. Alfred doesn’t have to be a genius to figure out that he is feeling a bit guilty for even suggesting it, but instead of voicing his words of comfort out loud, cause right now doesn’t seem like the right moment, he tilts Matthias’ head downwards to be able to kiss him on the forehead which elicits a tiny smile.

Alfred has to admit, he is a little scared too.

When he gets his phone out, completely charged and still with signal, his hands are sweating heavily and he is biting his lip, not enough to draw blood or leave a mark, but enough to ground him. The words ‘We’re not gonna fall’ repeat incessantly in his mind. His hand is shaking a bit as he gets to Gilbert’s contact info and Alfred prays he answers.

Ring, ring…

Alfred fiddles with his sleeve.

Ring, ring…

Matthias looks at him, worried.

Ring.

“Hey! Wondered when you were going to call, I’ve got the bookshelf you guys requested two weeks ago!” Gilbert’s scratchy but cheery voice is a welcome sound for him.

“Gil! You’re not going to believe what just happened!” he yells, unable to contain his relief.

“Shit, Alfred, don’t shout in my ear man!” Gilbert, the hypocrite, shouts back.

“Sorry, sorry,” he isn’t. “Look, you gotta come get us out of this! We are trapped on top of a tree-”

“Excuse me, what?” now that makes him gulp, cause an angry Gilbert is a dangerous Gilbert.

“We went to have a walk, ya know, just a nice stroll. Then we had this idea to have a tree climbing contest,” is he imagining things or did his friend just _growl_ “and now we’re atop of the tree and I just noticed we don’t have the rope to get down and we’re not skilled enough to just climb down.” 

“I, I have no words. I simply don’t,” he stutters out. “Look, just. I’m going to go and save your fucking asses with my friends the rope and the stair and then you’re banned from looking at a tree ever again.”

Alfred hears him say something alongside the lines of ‘damn, I’m dumb, but these guys are just stupid’, which twenty-five minutes prior would have offended him. Right now he knows Gilbert is right.

“Could you come fast? Matthias and I are pretty not scared right now, but we don’t know if the branch will hold on for long,” ever the person to not admit he is scared, he corrects himself halfway through the sentence by adding a _not_. 

Gilbert snorts, more of disbelief than anything, “Just wait.”

Click.

“‘Just wait’,” he mocks his friend before sighing “well… sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?” his husband asks, confused. “I’m the one who should be sorry, I should’ve never suggested this...”

“And if I had never suggested going for a walk, this wouldn’t have happened dude, it’s fine.”

“That’s not,” he gets to see the moment in which Matthias goes ‘oh’. “Okay, fine, you win. It's our fault.”

Grinning, he shifts a bit so he can be more comfortable, “Is this tree a bit bigger than what you’re used to?”

“I mean, I’ve climbed big trees before but not this big,” taking a deep breath Matthias shifts a bit too, holding onto the branch so hard his knuckles go white. “Aren’t you afraid of falling down?”

“Yeah, I am. But you’re here and keeping you safe is way more important. Also, we can hold onto each other, don’t you think?” Alfred says.

“You’re right,” Matthias answers, offering him his hand.

“Of course I am! I’m always right!” Alfred boasts as he takes the hand offered to him. He squeezes it as reassuringly as he can. 

“Aha, like that time you insisted your phone was in the car and it turned out you forgot it at home?” Matthias has the guts to _laugh_ at his misfortune.

“Ha ha ha. Very funny. Maybe not all the time, but most of the time,” he says teasingly “one of us has to have the brain in this relationship.”

“I am very intelligent, dude!” 

Alfred doubts it.

“You know, I love you,” he says out of the blue. “A lot. Like, I wanna kiss you all the time and… I just love you man.”

“Aw, are you confessing to me again?” the hilarity of the situation didn’t escape either of them. “You’re so precious to me, Al, so important. I love you with all my heart, and I’m so happy I can have you by my side… I don’t know why you love a man as dumb as me, but I appreciate it with all my heart.”

Alfred is getting tired of sweating so much, but considering it’s Matthias that is the one that is provoking it this time he isn’t that mad anymore. Matthias puts a hand on Alfred’s cheek, inching closer and closer until their lips are almost touching and they can feel each other’s breath. His eyes, they are as beautiful as the blue sky, and so mesmerizing and he doesn’t know when exactly he fell so in love with the man in front of him.

Their lips connect. He doesn’t know how many times they’ve kissed each other today and it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters in the face of the love they share, and it almost makes him forget they’re making out on a branch in the middle of the forest awaiting the help of their neighbor. It makes him forget about his responsibilities and his worries; and like any and every other moment they share, nothing else exists. This is special, this is them adoring each other in such a pure way, in such an innocent way.

Alfred is the one that breaks the kiss, panting and out of air he has half the mind to not lean on Matthias, lest they fall off the tree. Still, he buries his head in his spouse’s shoulder as best as he can, and is happy enough with feeling his fingers run through his hair in a gentle manner.

“Thank you for loving me,” he breathes out.

“Hm, you ain’t gonna pull a Portgas D. Ace on me, are you?” Despite the soft way the words are said, there’s clear amusement in them.

“Of course not, dumbass. We’re having a moment, don’t ruin it,” everything he says is bound to sound muffled, so he tries to speak as clearly as he can. “I am thankful for everything you’ve done for me.”

“There’s no need to thank me, I’d do anything for you in a heartbeat, and you know it,” his husband says as Alfred pulls back. “I should be the one thanking you, for liking me despite being such an asshole at first.”

Matthias kisses him on the forehead and it makes Alfred so flustered he can’t help but fumble with his next words. “I don’t, I’m not. There’s no need to thank me either!”

Matthias opens his mouth to answer, but whatever he is going to say gets interrupted by a shout coming from below.

“Hey, idiots! I’m here!” Gilbert’s distinct voice can be heard resonating in the woods, and he hopes the little birdies don’t get scared away by it.

“Bro, fucking finally, you took like a thousand years to get here!” Matthias yells back.

“Are you kidding? I live very freaking far, Densen!” and geez, Alfred seriously thinks the albino should take a chill pill.

“Ah, whatever dude, just get us outta here!” is the last thing Matthias says before they get to work.

Alfred shakes his head a bit dazedly. Today wasn’t like he was expecting it to be. It started so calm, and then continued so calm, only to end with them stuck on top of a tree and having to call their neighbor slash best friend to get them down the tree. Also, kisses. He wants to fucking melt in a puddle right now, cause he is so drained from the kisses and the fear of falling down this tree and breaking his neck or of Matthias falling down this tree and breaking his neck and he can’t even think straight anymore. Not that he could ever think straight in the first place.

It takes some minutes, but in no time they’re finally on floor level, and Alfred makes a show out of it by giving Gilbert a kiss on the cheek, calling him their savior, and then kneeling on the floor laughing hysterically. Matthias laughs and calls him an overdramatic queen, and Alfred answers telling him that he is an overdramatic queen alright. A forced cough draws their attention back to the person that oh so kindly got them out of such a high situation.

“I expect compensation,” are the only words that are directed at them before the three start walking back to the Densen-Jones residence.

Alfred has to admit his friend looks more irritated than usual, and has in mind that they probably interrupted Gil’s own calm morning with their shenanigans, so he feels the amount of beers and food they decide to give him is a good reward for the help. Usually Gilbert wouldn’t even bother asking for compensation, but he guesses that depends on whether the albino himself is involved in the shenanigans or not. And if he has to travel towards their home with no warning, considering it’s miles of distance from his own.

“Sorry for this, dude. Did you park your car around here?” asks Alfred, taking a seat on the living room’s couch.

“Yeah, it’s in the back. Easier to park there than other places, saw your front littered with a bunch of chopped logs and didn’t want to cause a disaster,” Gilbert sounds utterly disgusted when he mentions the chopped logs, probably because he is incredibly neat and clean with everything he does.

“Well, if you want to stay you’re welcome to, sorry for dragging you here with our dumb problems,” Matthias apologizes looking a bit sheepish.

Something seems to soften in Gilbert, because the somehow angry-bitter tone disappears completely. “Agh, guys no. Sorry for being so cross, but this was actually very dangerous, and I know you always get into funny bordering on dangerous shit but this wasn’t it. You almost gave me a fucking heart attack,” he pauses for a second. “I need to leave cause I have some friends coming over later, but if you want to watch a movie or something any other day just gimme a call, I’ll answer.”

Gilbert stays to chat a bit more, and although he claims he is leaving a bunch of times, he always seems to just linger, which he unashamedly blames on his friend Antonio’s own ways to say goodbye. In the end, he does end up shaking their hands, rudely telling them to clean their front lawn, before winking at them playfully and leaving the scene in his car which truly does not belong in the woods.

“What a fucking bastard,” his husband says. “I fucking love him, best friend ever. Ten bucks it’s Francis and Antonio visiting.”

“Fool’s bet, it’s obviously them. They’ve got some friends with benefits vibes to be honest,” he snorts “although from what I’ve heard Francis is interested in some British guy called Arthur.”

“You could say it’s… the real tea?”

“Why did I marry you again?” questions Alfred out loud.

“You love me and you know it!” exclaims Matthias, puffing his cheeks and turning away from him.

“Unfortunately I do,” he responds, approaching Matthias. “I love you a lot, and I want to have a little bit of fun, how’s that sound?”

Matthias swallows thickly, putting his hands on Alfred’s shoulders. “Well, how can I say no to such a kind offer?”

And so they kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> My Dename pals are enablers. I wrote this on the course of the week cause I wanted them to kiss, and to be soft and dorks and I can't stop now, thanks.


End file.
